Paul Merson reveals off-the-air dig at Leeds United in their defeat vs Arsenal

Paul Merson was quick to twist the knife in Leeds United after their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.

Despite an impressive performance at the Emirates, Daniel Farke saw his side's unbeaten start to the Premier League season come to an end at the hands of the reigning champions.

James Justin's 55th-minute goal gave the Whites hope that they could secure a famous result in North London, that would've moved them up to second in the table.

However, Riccardo Calafiori equalised seven minutes later before Mikel Arteta used his star-studded bench to improve Arsenal's on-field options

Jurrien Timber, Viktor Gyokeres and Bruno Guimaraes were all substituted on moments after Calafiori's equaliser, and Bruno was then on hand to score a winner in the 70th minute.

According to Merson, it was those subs that won the game for the Gunners - and lost it for Leeds.

Paul Merson and Clinton Morrison clash after Leeds loss vs Arsenal

When he was summarising the game, Clinton Morrison pointed to the game-changing substitutes that Arteta made just after the hour mark.

However, Merson took issue with his fellow Sky Sports pundit's choice of words.

"You look at their bench, I was saying to Merse, the players they've got coming on - and the players that didn't come on - are fantastic," said Morrison on Sky Sports News' Soccer Saturday Build Up.

Simon Thomas was then asking Morrison a follow-up question but noticed that he and Merson were going back and forth off-camera.

When asked if he's alright, Merson replied: "I told him [that].

"I said to you - we were saying - the three players who come on for Arsenal, those three players would walk into the Leeds team, and they're sitting on the bench for Arsenal."

Morrison clearly felt a tad aggrieved that he couldn't use what Merson told him off-air during his personal assessment of the game and blasted back: "I've helped you for the last five years, now. Come on."

Would Vitkor Gyokeres really be a starter for Leeds?

Those wearing white-tinted glasses will find it hard to agree with that one.

There's even a case that Timber wouldn't be a guaranteed starter for Leeds with how well Jayden Bogle is doing for the Yorkshire giants.

However, if Gyokeres was to walk into the Leeds starting line-up, he'd have to displace one of the best strikers in English football right now - and one of the best players on the pitch at the Emirates on Saturday.

Dominic Calver-Lewin was in superb form in North London, causing all sorts of issues for Arsenal for most of the game.

In terms of quality, you'd probably have to concede that Merson was right, but we don't think it's quite as clear cut as the former Arsenal player makes it out to be.

Leeds are a seriously good side now and deserve a lot more respect than being seen as far inferior to Arsenal.

Clearly, based on the performance and the result, the Farke's team is one that should be feared by all Premier League outfits.